Across The Fence
by AlphaHikari
Summary: From across the fence, a love story.


**Across the Fence**

**Summary: **From across the fence, a love story.

Laney Penn was never one to go outside her bubble. She was fine being alone. Never before has she attempted to make a friend and the thought never ran across her mind. The girl just didn't like to interact with others. All she needed was her bass guitar. Nothing else was as important to her as that.

So why did she have to put up with this guy now? For the first twenty-three years of her life, she was left to herself, but now things have changed. Living next door was the most obnoxious and annoying person she has ever had the displeasure of meeting, and his name was Corey Riffen.

Corey Riffen was an extreme extrovert. He loved to be around people. There was no such thing as personal space to him. At parties, if there was a person there that he didn't recognize, by the end of the night, he would know almost everything about them. Corey valued friendship and figured you could never have too many friends. He was all about companionship.

They lived next door to each other in a quiet neighborhood. _Well it used to be quiet, _Laney thought as she looked in the direction of his house. Everyone here pretty much lived in the same style home; one level with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. There was a small lawn in the back and a fence that separated one yard from the other. Seven houses were on each side of a street and their colors were somewhat uniformed. One street could be light blue facing pink, and then maybe you'd see red facing yellow, and so on.

Laney lived in a light blue house and Corey's residence was yellow in color. The backs of their homes faced each other, only being separated by their lawns and fences. They both lived at the end of their streets as well.

Corey was relatively new to the neighborhood. He had moved in a few weeks ago, and was slowly getting to know all of his neighbors. The blue haired man threw his own welcoming party just so he could introduce himself within his first week there. Of course, Laney hadn't gone and as luck would have it, he noticed.

At first, he didn't make a big deal about her not letting him introduce himself to her. For all he knew, she could have been busy that night and didn't have time to come over. But after two weeks without so much as a hello from the girl, he was going to let it go much longer. Corey wanted to catch her attention. If they were going to live this close to each other, they might as well get along.

The first attempt at contact hadn't faired so well. He knocked over and over, even went back at different times of the day, but still no response. So the next thing he did was to ask around and see if anyone knew anything about her. That was almost as fruitless as attempt number one, but he did manage to get her phone number from some guy named Kin Kujira.

Attempt number two went better than the first one. At least she did answer the phone the first time he called her. As soon as he finished his introduction, Laney told him her name and hung up. She never answered his calls again.

"I don't get her," Corey said to Kin. They had grown close since Kin helped Corey learn Laney's number. Today they were at Corey's place listening to music. When Corey discovered that Kin was an amazing piano player, he immediately wanted them to get together and start a band. As an added stroke of good fortune, Kin has a younger twin that plays the drums. A few calls later and he was in too. Kin's brother, Kon, wasn't able to make it over today because of work, but Kin would fill him in later with the details.

Sitting with Corey, Kin glanced around again. They were in the living room watching whatever happened to be playing on the TV at the moment, he wasn't really paying attention. Corey had a nice place; a spacious living room decorated with a black couch, glass coffee table sat in front of a wide screen TV, a couple house plants here and there, and a fish tank off to the right of the room. The Kitchen towards their left came fully furnished, and he never looked in any of the bedrooms, but he suspected they were well taken care of as well.

"She just likes to be by herself, I guess. I've never really seen her around."

"Yea, but, I'm trying to at least get to know her. What's so hard about saying hey to someone or asking them how their day is going? It's like she's isolating herself."

"Maybe you should just let it go. If she doesn't want to be bothered then don't bother her."

"I don't work like that. I want to know more about her. If going to her doesn't work, then maybe I should make her come to me."

"This doesn't sound good," Kin muttered. As much as he didn't want to get involved, it was probably too late to back out now.

Laney was enjoying a rare moment of peace. She hadn't been bothered by Corey's calls for a few days now. Other than his overly loud music sounding from across the fence, she could say that she felt content. Her happiness lasted all the way up until she was hit.

Turns out, Corey's bright idea was to annoy her. He was going to do anything possible to make her snap. And it looks like all it would take was a few misfired rounds from a paintball gun to do it. The guitarist never meant to actually shoot her, but a lot of things that aren't meant to happen, do happen.

He and Kin were in his backyard, dressed in paintball gear, and steadily attacking each other. For just a game, they looked like they were taking it pretty seriously. One boy would fire, the other would dodge and fire back, and vice versa. It was a stalemate. Making one last ditch effort to finish off his opponent, Corey jumped from one of the two lawn chairs he had set up and fired.

His aim was horrible to put it nicely. All three shots sailed across the fence and right onto Laney's striped, light and dark green tank top. It was painful. She was pissed.

"Ow, shit!" she shouted. The two men rushed to their side of the fence and asked if she was ok. "No, I'm not ok. I just got hit by paintballs. Do you know how much that hurt?"

"I'm so sorry! It was an accident. I was aiming at this guy over here but somehow it went over the fence," Corey apologized. Yes she was talking to him now, but he still felt awful about the paintball pellets. He never wanted to hurt her.

"Whatever. Why are you even playing paintball here? There isn't enough room in the yards to have a decent game."

"We didn't have anywhere else to go," Kin piped in. He noticed Corey struggle to come up with a believable answer so he decided to help him out. "There was already a group on the course, and we didn't feel like waiting for them to finish up. We thought it would be ok to just do it here instead."

"Yea, well, next time you should just wait. Now I'm going to try to get this paint off of my shirt. See you later, I guess."

With that she was gone again. Laney went back inside of her home and retreated into her bubble. After a few washes, she was able to get the stains off her top, but she was still mad about the incident. Just when she thought it was over, he comes right back into her life.

"Well, I think that went well."

"Corey….you know what, never mind. I'm sure that situation played out differently inside of our heads. Where I think it was a terrible experience, you probably see it as a huge step forward," Kin responded as he rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"It was a huge step forward though. That's the most I've ever heard her say since I moved here. She couldn't just ignore me after that."

"So you plan to hit her with random objects every time she steps outside just to make her talk to you?"

"If it works, it works. I think it works so why not?"

Laney, who had thought that that would have just been a onetime event, was bombarded was something different almost every time she would step a foot outside. Like that football, for instance. After being caught off guard so many times, she was pretty much prepared for it today. All she needed was one glimpse of it before she was ready to catch it.

Ball in hand; she strutted over to the fence to hear his latest excuse. She wondered what it would be. Would he say that Kin was over again and they were playing catch when he once again misjudged his aim? Or would he say that some random kid that lived around here was playing with their friends and that ball was theirs? What would it be today?

"I caught your ball," she breathed out as she stood in front of the fence.

"Uh, thanks," Corey laughed nervously, "Can I have it back?"

"I don't know. I guess, that depends on your excuse for today, doesn't it?"

"See, what happened was- "

"Save it because I know you're about to come up with another random lie. When a sentence starts off with 'what happened was' then I know it's not the truth. I think I'll do something a little different today and just keep it. Thanks for the new football, Core."

Laney returned to her solitude and didn't go outside for the rest of that day. Over the next week, she added a golf club, baseball bat, Frisbee, and dodge ball to her collection of _Corey based items _as she had labeled them. The red headed girl figured that eventually he would get tired of her confiscating his possessions and stop.

"So she started keeping your stuff," Kon questioned again.

"Yea and she won't even give me a chance to explain why I tossed it over the fence anymore."

"You should have seen this coming. It was bound to happen. What person wouldn't get tired of being targeted in their own backyard? I'm surprised that this didn't happen sooner," Kin chided.

"Look guys, I don't care if she takes my stuff. I hardly used them anyway. I just want her to talk to me again. I like talking to her, even if she is a bit, well a lot, sarcastic most of the time. It's fun when she gets angry."

"Then you'll just have to find a different approach. Find out something that she likes to do, and go from there," Kin suggested. He was happy that he wouldn't have to be physically involved in Corey's stunts any more.

"Easier said than done, Kin."

Indeed it was. She never left the house unless she was going to work or the market. Corey already felt like some sort of stalker for following her when she went into town, so he really didn't want to spy on her while she was in her own home. Still, he wouldn't let his lack of information get him down. Corey was going to wait her out.

Laney was paranoid by this point. There hadn't been any calls or sports equipment thrown her way in a while. She wanted to think that he had given up, but she didn't want to let her guard down again. That had cost her the last time. Trying to relax a little, she grabbed her blue bass and headed out to her yard for a little private jam session with herself. Unknowingly, she had given Corey a perfect opportunity to gather information.

He had stationed himself in his own yard hours earlier. Patience was definitely a virtue he possessed. Never making a sound, he listened closely and tried to figure out what his neighbor could be up to.

The bass player plops down in a pink lawn chair she had recently bought for herself. Then she goes through the motion of tuning her bass, and finally plays a few chords on it. When she thinks that everything sounds perfect she repositions her hands on the frets, and plays several low songs. She hums the lyrics to herself as she goes along, completely unaware of her audience just on the other side of a few wooden boards.

Corey can't believe what he's hearing. She is awesome. The girl never misses a note, and judging how she sounds as she hums, she has to be an impressive vocalist as well. If he had known about all this he would have asked her to join his band when they first formed. He had to have her become a member.

Mind set on this new thought, he hurriedly walks to the fence and scales it. He doesn't care if she doesn't want to associate with him. They were going to talk, and they were going to do it now.

When he finally made it to her yard, he realized that even though he knows her voice, he's never actually seen her before. _It's weird that I've talked with her but never even saw her face once, _he thought as he made his way to her. Laney had stopped playing when she heard him land. They were staring at each other as he came to a halt a few feet from her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Laney asked him. He has never done that before. Sure, they talked a few times through the fence, but this was something else completely.

"I want to talk to you. No fences, or lame excuses, or anything else like that. I just want a nice, normal conversation for once."

"And you prove that by jumping over the fence and trespassing?"

"Well, you probably would have ignored me if I shouted at you. You ignore me a lot actually."

"Let's skip this back and forth thing and just get to the point. Why did you come over here? What do you want?" Laney asked him. She was fed up with him. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"I heard you play and I want you to join my band."

"Your band?"

"Yes, my band. Grojband. We don't have a bass player and I think you'll be perfect for the role."

"Who else is in this band?"

"There's me, Kin, and his brother Kon. Kin is the pianist, Kon the drummer, and I do lead vocals and guitar."

"Ok, let's pretend that I did accept your offer. What would be in it for me?"

"You'll get to hang out with us?"

"Not helping you here," she told him.

"I won't bother you again unless it's about practice then."

"That, I can agree with. Do you promise to leave me alone? I won't see you unless it's band related?"

"I promise."

He offered out his hand to shake on it. Laney only hesitated briefly before gripping his hand with a firm grip. Maybe this way, she could finally get some of her old peace back.

Oh how wrong she was. With the addition of their newest bassist, Grojband held practice every evening. If she just had to go once or twice a week, she would have been fine, but every day? There was only so much the introvert was willing to take.

She made an effort to be agreeable towards Kin and Kon. Those two didn't have the need to bother her. They were perfectly fine with letting her be. She respected them for that. Her only problem was the vocalist.

If Corey wasn't singing, he was trying to start a conversation with her, if he wasn't aiming for a conversation, he was singing. It was a never-ending cycle with him. Sure he was attractive with his blue hair, slim but toned body, and velvety voice, but that doesn't mean that she like him for anything other than that. Most of their conversations turned into arguments over half of the time. If she didn't know any better, she would think that he liked seeing her all riled up.

"Hey, Lanes," Corey called her using a nickname he created, "come here for a sec."

"What now Core? I was just about to head home."

"It won't take long. Just come check this out. I wrote some more lyrics after you three left yesterday and I want to know what your opinion about them is."

He hands her a journal he started to write all his lyrics down in. She takes a few minutes to scan over three of the songs he pointed out before she hands it back.

"They're actually pretty good. Much better than all that other stuff you had me look at before. But I just have one question."

"And what would that be?"

"Why are most of them love songs?"

_I can't answer that right now, _Core thought. He needed to think fast. Since Laney had began to practice with the band, he felt compelled to get closer to her. Even though she was adamant about pushing him away, he couldn't help but feel the attraction between them. But this wasn't the time to think about how much he was crushing on her. Corey needed an excuse and he needed one fast.

"I just thought that we should try a different sound. You know, give the band more variety to our music," he rushes out. Hopefully that would be good enough for her.

"That's smart. I didn't know you could think like that, Core. Good job."

For the first time ever, Laney smiles at him. It wasn't a half smile, or a smirk, but an actual, genuine smile. He watched her leave before pumping a fist into the air and grinning to himself.

While he makes his way back into his living room, he spots a pink cell phone on the coffee table. Using process of elimination, he can only assume that it belongs to Laney. Neither Kin nor Kon would be the types to own a pink phone, and his own is black _Well, this just gives me another reason to spend some more time with her, _he muses.

Laney made it inside her home before she noticed that her cell was missing. She looked through her pockets again before coming to terms with what must have happened. She left her phone at Corey's. Not wanting to walk back over there, she was just going to hope that he found it and brought it out to her. The quickest way to meet him would be to go to the fence.

_It's been a long time since we've talked at this fence, _she thinks to herself as she stares at the wood. Corey had kept his word; he hadn't bothered her unless they were at practice. She hated to admit it, but she missed the conversations they would have back here. If anyone ever asked her though, she would deny it.

Somehow over the last few months, he had managed to work his way into her bubble. It was no longer just her anymore. No, it was him and her together. Laney wasn't used to this.

"Lanes, are you there?"

"Yea, listen, I left my phone over there, could you bring it out for me and just toss it over the fence?"

"I already have it with me. Maybe I should go through it before I give it back. I think that will be more fun."

"Go ahead. I have nothing to hide. It's mostly empty anyway since I hardly use it. You won't find anything that I can't afford showing."

"Aw, that's no fun. You can have it then. I don't want to see what's inside it now," Corey whines as he tosses it to her. He waits until he hears her catch it before trying to start up a new conversation with her.

Surprisingly, they talk this time without having it dissolve into a fight. She cut down on some of her sarcasm, and he wasn't as pushy as he normally was. They enjoyed themselves while talking to each other across the fence.

Time flies when you're having fun. That has been proven time and time again. Grojband managed to get its first gig within four months after Laney joined, and they took off from there. They were being booked to play everywhere. Their gigs were never seen as work to the band members. It was all for fun and they enjoyed performing. After two years of constant local attention, they were signed to a record label and touring the country.

Over the years, Laney did decide to open up to Corey. When she figured out that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, she felt like she should give him a chance. Not once has she ever regretted that decision. They still keep the tradition of speaking to each other from across the fence when they return home on breaks. It brings back memories of how they finally met.


End file.
